High School Volleyball: Golden Eagles defeat Stevens

October 10, 2010

RAPID CITY - Top teams in the Class AA high school volleyball poll have become an endangered species recently thanks to Aberdeen Central. The Golden Eagles claimed their second victory in a week over a top-ranked opponent as they handed Rapid City Stevens just its second loss of the season. Game scores were 25-19, 25-20, 22-25, 23-25, 15-7. Last Saturday, Central toppled then-unbeaten Sioux Falls Roosevelt, and followed that Tuesday with a victory at once-beaten Mitchell, which was ranked second. Stevens, which took the top spot after Roosevelt fell, had just one loss on the year. We came out with a lot of intensity. These girls like to play in big games, said Central coach Dennis Northrup. Strong serving and defense were factors in the Golden Eagles' win on Saturday. We served aggressively, I was happy with that. Our defense was pretty solid with blocks and we had a lot of digs, said Northrup. Central pounded out 45 kills in the win, led by Carmeille Foster's 14. Kayla Schaunaman and Kelcy Schaunaman tallied nine kills each and Lauren McCafferty added eight kills. Kayla Schaunaman had a team-best 29 digs and Paula Ruelas finished with 20. Things looked good in the early going for Central as it won games one and two. The Raiders rallied to take the next two, which the Golden Eagles had a chance to win, said Northrup. We let them back in, and we had talked about that, said Northrup. We were in the exact same spot two years ago and we didn't win. We lost in five. We finished it this year. Making the weekend even better for the Eagles was picking up a pair of road wins. It was just a great win. It's great to get two road wins, said Northrup, referring to the win over Rapid City Central on Friday. Aberdeen (11-3) will be back on the court Thursday hosting Watertown in an ESD match starting at 7:30 p.m. Serving: Aberdeen Central 101-106 7 aces (Kayla Schaunaman 20-20 2 aces, Paula Ruelas 22-23 1 ace, Lauren McCafferty 19-20 1 ace, Miranda Rook 12-12 1 ace). Hitting: 171-191 45 kills (Carmeille Foster 40-46 14 kills, Kayla Schaunaman 26-29 9 kills, Kelcy Schaunaman 26-29 9 kills, McCafferty 22-24 8 kills). Setting: Aberdeen Central 144-146 37 assists (Rook 116-118 31 assists, McCafferty 28-28 6 assists). Digs: Aberdeen Central (Kayla Schaunaman 29, Ruelas 20, Rook 19, Tiffany Lundberg 17, McCafferty 14). Blocks: Aberdeen Central 4 solo 7 assists (Kayla Schaunaman 1 solo 2 assists, Foster 1 solo 3 assists, Amanda Tobin 1 solo 1 assist).